Academic Staff Rate & Title Change Requests Annual Promotion Review College of Letters and Science...

Academic StaffRate & Title Change Requests

Annual Promotion Review

College of Letters and Science March 28, 2013

Presenters: Cheryl Adams Kadera, L&S Human Resources Daun Wheeler, L&S Human Resources

Welcome to the presentation “Academic Staff: Rate and Title Change Requests & Annual Promotion Review.”

After you review a slide, click anywhere to advance the presentation. To exit the presentation at any time, press the Escape Key. To go back to a previous slide, press the Backspace Key. Click to begin the presentation.

This presentation was given live on March 28, 2013, and was modified into a self-paced presentation. It is part of a series coordinated by L&S Administration, intended to connect L&S faculty and staff with topics and information that may be helpful in their positions. More presentations and information about this series of trainings can be found on the L&S Administrative Gateway, at: https://kb.wisc.edu/ls/page.php?id=25131

https://kb.wisc.edu/ls/page.php?id=25131


This presentation includes the following topics: 1. Rate and Title Changes

2. Promotions

3. Job Duty Changes

Overview

Part 1:GENERAL RATE AND TITLE

CHANGE INFORMATION

What are the reasons to give a rate adjustment?

Rate and Title Change

This presentation will focus on change in title/promotion and change in job duties, because the vast majority of rate adjustments fall into these two categories.

• Change in Title/Promotion

• Change in Job Duties

• Salary Inequity

• Competitive Factors (Outside Offer, market, etc.)

Under state statutes, it is NOT possible to grant a base adjustment to recognize good performance. Salary increases for good performance can only be provided through the annual pay plan process. (However, there may be future options for performance based adjustments under the new HR Design plan.)

Per UPPP Chapter 10 (http://www.ohr.wisc.edu/polproced/UPPP/1001.pdf):

Rate and Title ChangeThe Unclassified Personnel Policies and Procedures (UPPP) defines promotions and change in duties.

We will look at this issue-- whether a change is more of the same tasks, or is something different– at greater depth later in the presentation.

Promotion within a title series is “a natural career progression through which academic staff (and faculty) might be expected to progress in the area of specialty with successively greater experience, expertise, and responsibility in the particular position.” The specific criteria for the prefix vary depending upon the function chosen.

Change in Duties “is requested when a substantial change in the duties and responsibilities of a position occurs. The change has to be a qualitative rather than quantitative change to the duties” (i.e. not “more of the same”).

This is important to keep in mind when preparing a justification. Performance cannot be the primary justification for changing the rate, changing job duties or promotion. You can certainly mention performance, but at this point it cannot be the main reason for submitting a rate change request.

http://www.ohr.wisc.edu/polproced/UPPP/1001.pdf

Who are Category A and Category B staff?

There are two compensation categories for academic staff:

Category A titles include administrative and professional positions and have salary ranges with a minimum and a maximum salary.

Category B titles include instructional and higher-level research positions (e.g., Scientists, Researchers) and do not have salary ranges – only salary minima.


http://www.ohr.wisc.edu/polproced/utg/AlphaTitle.html


The Unclassified Title Guidelines is the best place to find unclassified titles, descriptions, criteria, and salary ranges. These guidelines will provide background information required to complete a request for a rate and title change.

Unclassified Title Guidelines

Clicking here will bring you to a page that has more information about the job titles in this category. . .






Unclassified Title Guidelines . . . it’s a page that shows more information about title descriptions. . .

. . . whether it is Category A or B. . .

. . . and salary ranges.




http://www.ohr.wisc.edu/polproced/utg/SalRng.html


Salary Ranges Salary ranges associated with all titles can be found online at the address below.

L&S Instructional Rates: https://kb.wisc.edu/ls/page.php?id=28638

Most rates are campus-wide. However, L&S has their own instructional rates– which are posted in the L&S Gateway. These are mainly for Faculty Associate, Lecturer and Faculty Assistant titles. You should reference these L&S rates, if the rate and title change involves an instructional title.



What is the amount of a rate/title change increase?

While policy allows a 5% increase, L&S asks departments to always give the full allowable 10% increase. This is for consistency, and because of the limited opportunities staff have for increases.

**Keep in mind that when promoting to the next prefix level, you would raise the person to the campus/college salary minimum of the new title first (if applicable) and then give 10% on top of that.

In general, a change in title or change in job duties requires a 10% increase in order to be consistent with all staff in your unit.

For employees that are currently below their new title’s minimum salary, this will translate into a greater than 10% increase.

Examples of “Raise to campus/college salary minimum +10%”


The first example is an Assoc Advisor who is currently in Range 2.

The title is changing to No Prefix, which is in Range 3.

. . and then add a 10% raise, based on that new minimum salary. . .

. . to get the new total.

In the second example, the employee is already above the minimum range 3 salary. So the 10% increase is based on their current salary.

As you can see, this can result in substantial rate increases, if the employee is under the new title’s minimum salary.

The first step is to raise raise them to the minimum salary of Range 3. . . .

In the final example, the employee would be raised first to the L&S minimum, with the additional 10% increase based on that minimum.

Where do I start?

The electronic PVL/Rate Adjustment System can be found at: https://orprd4.doit.wisc.edu/pvl/pvl.html


All requests for rate and title change must be submitted through the electronic Rate /Title Adjustment system.

The only exception to using the electronic system is for Postdocs, which remain on paper form. If you’re doing a rate change for a postdoc (Research Associate) , it would be due to a change in job duties (Postdocs aren’t in a promotional/title series), and a paper form must be submitted.

*Postdocs (Research Associates) remain on paper form

All departments should now have access to the system, but contact L&S HR if you have questions about access.

• If you need access to the system, contact L&S HR and we will assist you.

• DoIt can help with technical questions.

https://orprd4.doit.wisc.edu/pvl/pvl.html



What is the effective date?


• Cannot be retroactive.

• Must contain all necessary materials/information (if substantial revisions are required, the effective date may be delayed until the appropriate information is received).

This is a common question to HR. Rate changes cannot be retroactive. The effective date may not be earlier than the date of department approval was indicated in the electronic Rate/Title System.

Rate adjustments are effective on the first of the month following receipt of the request to L&S as indicated by the DEPARTMENT APPROVED status in the Rate/Title system (look at Status History tab). Academic year (9 month/ C basis) requests are effective on the first day of the next academic pay period.

Be aware– the effective date of the rate change may be delayed if the department does not respond in a timely manner to requests for additional information.

The Status History tab will show when the request was entered, the date department approval was entered, and the date L&S approval was entered.

Who must approve a rate/title change?


(1) The supervisor and/or department must review and approve and enter the request into the electronic rate/title system.

(2) The College of Letters & Science(3) Academic Personnel Office

Until final approval is obtained, no university official is authorized to promise a base adjustment to an unclassified employee.

After your department approves the request, the electronic system will advance the request to the next level of review.

While you may tell an employee that you have submitted a request for a base adjustment change, you may not promise that L&S or the Academic Personnel Office will approve that request. You must wait for the outcome of the full approval process before telling an employee whether their salary will be adjusted.

PROMOTIONS

Annual Promotion Review

Promotions

Emails are sent individual Chairs/Directors and Administrators each year (early March) with a list of staff who need to be reviewed in their department. If your department didn’t receive this email, there are no staff in your department who are required to be reviewed for promotion.

Each year departments and programs are required to review their academic staff employees for possible promotion if they fall into one of the following categories:

– Category A academic staff who have held the lowest-prefix title for at least three years, or the middle-prefix title for at least eight years; and

– Category B (Research or Instructional) academic staff who have held the lowest or the middle-prefix title for at least six years.

– This exercise will require each person listed to be considered for promotion. Promotion is not required when a valid reason can be provided.

YES. Whether you are required to participate in the Annual Promotion Review or not, you may still have academic staff who could be considered for promotion. Employees can be considered for promotion at any point during the year; budget data is updated after promotions are approved and entered in HRS.

Can we promote staff who aren’t included in the promotion review?

PROMOTIONS Promotions

HR keeps the Budget Office involved any time there is a rate change, and the department’s budget will be updated any time a promotion is approved.

Where Do I Start?

L&S Gateway: https://kb.wisc.edu/ls/page.php?id=22078

The Unclassified Title Guidelines (Criteria For Prefixes, Scope and Levels) will help determine when it’s appropriate to promote http://www.ohr.wisc.edu/polproced/UTG/CritPrefxScopLevl.html#disprefx

For Category B and professional Category A academic staff employees, a promotion would include a prefix change within the same title series (e.g., Associate Lecturer to no prefix Lecturer) based on the promotional criteria found in the Unclassified Title Guideline.

Exceptions:Movement within the Program Manager, Lab Manager, and Unspecified Director will be based on evaluation of the Position Questionnaire (PQ).


The criteria are also included in the Justification Templates referenced above. We hope that including the criteria on the templates will help your department provide strong justifications.

For your reference, full instructions are provided in the L&S Gateway web document “Academic Staff Promotion” at this address. (We’ll start reviewing these instructions on the next slide.)

The webpage also includes templates for writing the justification for why the employee should be promoted (we’ll show you a template later in the presentation, too.)


http://www.ohr.wisc.edu/polproced/UTG/CritPrefxScopLevl.html#disprefx

Supervisors must submit 3 supporting documents to their department administrator/HR/payroll staff:

1. Current duties Worksheet: A template (found on the L&S Gateway) can be used to help you collect current duties from the employee or supervisor. Prior to giving this template to supervisors, Administrators/HR staff should complete the former duties section or provide a copy of the most recent job duties on file (typically Position Vacancy Listing (PVL) or last rate and title change). This prevents the supervisor from “recreating” the duties.

If the duties haven’t changed, then the former and current duties will be identical.

PROMOTIONS Promotions – Supporting Documents

Supporting documents

If the current job duties aren’t accurate, the department may need to make substantial revisions to align the request with the correct duties. Anything you can do to help us prevent this unfortunate situation is appreciated!

EXAMPLE: John’s former duties….

PROMOTIONS Promotions-Supporting Documents

This is an example of a Current Job Duties Worksheet. Before giving this to the supervisor, the staff member entered the information in the Former Duties column. That information was taken from the PVL John was hired under, since he had no other change of duties or promotion documentation in his file.

John’s duties may not change…..

PROMOTIONS Promotions - Supporting Documents

In some cases, an employee’s duties will not change. Changes are not required to promote an employee. Promotions are based on the employee’s progress, not necessarily a change in job duties.

Or John’s duties may change a little…..

If the job duties change substantially, contact L&S to consult.


In other cases, an employees duties will change. Here, you can see that a job duty was added, because the left column is blank.

And. . . a duty was also taken away.

If job duties change substantially (meaning 15% - 45%), first consult with L&S HR before you complete the request.

1. Current Job Duties Worksheet (reviewed in the last slides)

2. Most recent CV

3. Justification for how the employee has met criteria for promotion. L&S has templates available on the Gateway which will help supervisors prepare letters of justification for promotion.

Listed below is the criteria (from Unclassified Title Guidelines) we would use to evaluate whether John Smith should be promoted from Assistant Faculty Associate to Associate Faculty Associate:

“Identifies instructional goals to be met; designs curriculum and/or techniques for accomplishing these goals. May train other staff in use of these techniques. Instructs students, either in formal classroom/laboratory settings or in non-credit supplements to formal course instruction. Works with faculty to identify and develop new methods of advancing instruction in the discipline. May assist in development of grant proposals for funding of model instruction programs. May make presentations to faculty and to staff members throughout the system and elsewhere on instructional programs and techniques.”

Supporting Documents

PROMOTIONS Promotions - Supporting Documents

Templates provide guidance for writing a strong justification

PROMOTIONS Promotions - Justifications

We believe that Mr. John Smith meets the prefix definition of Associate Faculty Associate and should be promoted effective ______. In addition, we are requesting that his salary be increased by ____in recognition of his promotion.

__________ “identifies instructional goals to be met.” For example:• __________________________• __________________________

_______________“designs curriculum and/or techniques for accomplishing these goals.” For example:• __________________________• __________________________

__________ “instructs students, either informal classroom/laboratory settings or in non-credit supplements to formal course instruction.” For example:• He teaches __________. His course evaluations have been outstanding,

ranging from ______ to ______. The department average Is ______. Students have made such comments as “______” and “_______”.

• __________________________

__________ “works with faculty to identify and develop new methods of advancing instruction in the discpline. For example:• __________________________• __________________________

Given all of the above, we believe that John Smith should be promoted to Associate Faculty Associate effective ____________.

Please use the Justification Templates when preparing a request for promotion. They are provided on the L&S Gateway. Below are some excerpts from templates:

When you review a justification for promotion you should be looking for strong examples of how the employee has met the criteria.

If you read what’s written and questions remain as to “what’s the significance of this?”, you need to go back to the supervisor and ask for more detail.

Here are some examples……


Criteria-“designs curriculum and/or techniques for accomplishing instructional goals.” For example:

WEAK EXAMPLE- John uses a collaborative instructional approach in the classroom……. What is the significance of this? How does it justify a promotion?

STRONG EXAMPLE- John uses a collaborative instructional approach in the classroom and through a network of wikis, podcasts, live blogging, chat and posting tools, students, TA and instructor share and comment on the legal case studies and hypothetical situations discussed in class. The course enrolls upwards of 80 students and has generated a great deal of interest among students.


Criteria- “Identifies instructional goals to be met.” For example:

WEAK- John developed a troubleshooting wiki to facilitate response to the problems students encounter working with software….

What’s the significance of this? How does this help students?

STRONG- John developed a troubleshooting wiki to facilitate response to the problems students encounter working with software. The wiki not only reduces the time it takes to get back to students, but it shifts the burden for responding to questions from a single individual to the entire class. And, because John carries the wikis forward from one semester to the next, students benefit from the insights and experiences of former students while, at the same time, learning to use this form of communication.


Also, remember that the L&S and campus individuals reviewing your request won’t have expertise in your field. Technical information and concepts should be explained in layperson’s language.

Criteria- “Instructs students, either in formal classroom/laboratory settings or in non-credit supplements to formal course instruction”.

WEAK- John teaches Journalism 202 and Journalism 403. His course evaluations have been outstanding. What do his evaluations look like and what do students say about him?

STRONG- John teaches Journalism 202 and Journalism 403. His course evaluations have been outstanding, ranging from 4.25 to 5.00. The department average is 4.34. His students have made comments such as:

-“John is understanding, accommodating, and willing to take extra time to help with questions. I would recommend this class to anyone."-"I think John is a very engaging and well qualified teacher. He’s extremely willing to explain problems to his students, that they might run into."-"Great instructor. Brings a lot of enjoyment to class with

enthusiasm/knowledge."


The supervisor gave me all 3 supporting documents, what’s the next step?

The Department administrator/HR/payroll staff should review the request for accuracy and to ensure that all necessary information and documents are included. That staff person can then enter it in the Rate and Title Change System.

Once Department approved, L&S Human Resources staff will review the request, and if appropriate, submit to APO for review and approval.


CHANGE IN JOB DUTIES

Where do I start?

1. Provide a current list of duties. You should always start with a copy of the most recent job duties on file. This is usually the PVL or most recent rate/title change request. If the last job duties on file are very outdated, please consult with L&S.

• A strong PVL with percentages is a critical starting point

• The “Goldilocks” factor – not too much or too little information

• Spell out Acronyms

• Use the Current Work Duties Worksheet on the L&S Gateway to assist with this process.

CHANGE IN JOB DUTIES Change in Job Duties

You should start with the Current Job Duties Worksheet that we reviewed earlier (available on the L&S Gateway). You’ll also be referencing the PVL or most recent request. Again, if you don’t start with the correct job duties, the request cannot go forward.

Creating strong PVLs initially will help later with changes in job duties, promotions, or rate and title changes. Percentages are important because some titles are similar; the percentages can help determine whether the position should be in one title or another.

Individuals reviewing the change in duties request may not be familiar with acronyms your department uses. So always spell them out the first time you use them.

With very broad and general descriptions, it may be difficult to justify that the new job duties assigned are beyond the description. On the other hand very narrow descriptions describing the position in minute detail can also make it difficult to show that something new is being added. This is why HR staff will work with you to provide “just the right amount” of description in PVLs.

Compare “former” job duties to current job duties (item by item):

• Is it a substantial change in job duties? A general ballpark figure is 20-40% change overall.

• Is it a qualitative change vs. quantitative, ie. not “more of the same”

EXAMPLE: Anna Advisor currently spends 50% of her time advising undergraduate Biology majors as part of her job duties. She now has 50 additional students she needs to advise. Would this warrant a change in job duties?

Answer: It Depends

If Anna currently has a workload of 500 students she advises in Biology and these are just additional students due to an increase in enrollment, then it will not qualify as “new or changed”.


To determine the change percent, HR staff will go over the Job Duties Worksheet line by line and compare percentages. You should do this before submitting the request too, to ensure there is enough change to be approved.

When a job changes more than 45-50%, it is considered a new position that should be posted for open recruitment. Please consult with L&S HR in these situations.

CHANGE IN JOB DUTIES Change in Job DutiesIn this example, the only thing changing is the percentage of time spent on currently assigned activities, so the duties won’t qualify as new and changed.

Looking at this sample Job Duties Worksheet, notice that the descriptions of the former and current duties match. The only differences are small percentages in the amount of time spent on these duties. This would not qualify as new or changed duties.

But, if this is part of a bigger change, then it may qualify.

For example, the Biology major has decided to merge with the Cellular & Molecular Biology program and Anna now has to learn the curriculum and policies of that new program in order to provide the undergraduate advising. In addition, she will be responsible for SOAR activities for both programs. She is also going to work with faculty from both majors to create internship opportunities.

The following slide shows an example:



This example shows that in addition to some other changes, this person has some entirely new job duties.

The person completing the Job Duties worksheet should make it very clear (as this example does) what duties have been tweaked, what duties are completely new, and how percentages will change.

2. Provide an appropriate justification to explain the change in job duties:

The justification should “write itself” and should mirror the new or changed job duties listed in the worksheet:

SAMPLE: Anna Advisor started in the Department of Biology as an Associate Advisor in 2008. In 2011, she was promoted to Advisor. Since that time, her job duties have changed and she has taken on additional responsibilities. More information is provided below.

In September 2012, the Executive Committees from the Departments of Biology and Cellular & Molecular Biology decided to merge their undergraduate programs as part of an Educational Innovation exercise for both units. As a result of that merger, Anna Advisor will now provide undergraduate advising to both units and serve as the SOAR advisor. She will now be involved in updating program material for both the biology and molecular biology majors. She will be responsible for creating a course guide list for the molecular biology major.

Finally, she will work with the faculty in the biology and molecular biology majors to coordinate internship opportunities. Anna will need to contact various employers and businesses regarding possible opportunities for students. She will also create a newsletter to advertise internships.


Start with a short summary about the individual, how long he or she has been there, and what has happened with the position. Next, you should explain the changes that have

been laid out in the job duties worksheet, and why those changes are happening. This is the place to provide some additional explanations that aren’t necessarily part of the job duties.

Job duties that are described in the justification section should also be included in the Job Duties Worksheet. If they are described in the justifications, but not included in the worksheet, HR reviewers will likely ask for a revision.

3. Provide information on how many staff/students the person supervises.

4. Describe any budgetary responsibility this person has.

The supervisor gave me all 4 items, what’s the next step?

The Department administrator/HR/payroll staff should review the request for accuracy and to ensure that all necessary information and documents are included. The request can then be entered in the Rate and Title Change System.

Once Department approved, L&S Human Resources staff will review the request, and if appropriate, submit to APO for review and approval.


The final two pieces of information required for the request is how many (if any) people they are supervising, and budgetary responsibilities (again, if any).

Additional Resources

Promotional policies, procedures and templates are available on the L&S Administrative Gateway at https://kb.wisc.edu/ls/page.php?id=22078

Unclassified Title Guidelines:http://www.ohr.wisc.edu/polproced/utg/tblcnts.htm

Unclassified Personnel Policies & Procedures (UPPP), Chapter 10:http://www.ohr.wisc.edu/polproced/uppp/1001.pdf

L&S Human Resources Staff:Cheryl Adams Kadera (change in duties, equity, misc. requests)Daun Wheeler (promotion requests)

WHAT IF I STILL HAVE QUESTIONS? Change in Job Duties


http://www.ohr.wisc.edu/polproced/utg/tblcnts.htm

http://www.ohr.wisc.edu/polproced/uppp/1001.pdf

Academic Staff Rate & Title Change Requests Annual Promotion Review College of Letters and Science...

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